Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest and most populous city in Delaware. It was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America, which had been established in 1638 under Peter Minuit. In 1655, a Dutch fleet under Peter Stuyvesant conquered New Sweden, which fell under English control in 1664 during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. In 1739, King George II of Great Britain renamed the city to "Wilmington" after Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington. The city grew rapidly during and after the American Civil War, producing the most iron ships than the rest of the country combined. Both world wars stimulated the city's industries, and suburbanization and the construction of Interstate 95 cut through several of Wilmington's neighborhoods and accelerated population decline. From April 1968 to January 1969, the National Guard was deployed to the city to keep the peace during racial unrest, the longest occupation of an American city by state forces in the nation's history. In the 1980s, the arrival of national banks and financial institutions spurred job growth and office construction. In 2017, Wilmington had a population of 72,846 people.